Striping instrument



g 5,1941- A. J. TEGETHOFF 2,251,431

STRIPI'NG INSTRUMENT Fi l ed Sept. 14, 1938 W INVE M I M August J. Teffl' ff A TTORNE Y8.

Patented Aug. 5, 1941 STRIPING INSTRUMENT August J. Tegethoff, Detroit,Mich, assignor to Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit, Micln,

a corporation of Michigan Application September 14, 1938, Serial No.229,802

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for applying stripes.

Devices are now employed for applying stripes of paint, lacquer andother similar materials to pieces of work to provide a decoration or acoating. Such devices are usually formed with a body carrying areservoir and a dispensing nozzle. Some form of guide means is alsocarried by the body and has been utilized to operate a pump within thebody for moving the paint or lacquer from the reservoir through thedispensing nozzle. A device of such character is shown in Patent1,956,848, issued May 1, 1934, to Earl M. Barden. Sometimes thesedevices do not employ pumps and the paint or lacquer flows by gravity,but the devices employing pumps have been found to be more satisfactorybecause they distribute the paint or lacquer uniformly on a piece ofwork regardless of the speed at which the device is moved by theoperator.

In some instances a portion of the work to be striped does not permitthe use of a guide and in other instances it is impossible to use both aguide member and a dispensing member. One instance in which suchdifficulties are encountered is in striping the edge portion of a sheetof metal such as door panels and engine bonnets of motor vehicles wherea protective coating is required.

An object of this invention is to provide a striping device for quicklyapplying paint or lacquer evenly and uniformly on the edge portion of apiece of work.

Another object of the invention is to provide a striping device in whicha roller is utilized as a guide, an applicator and to drive a pump.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a striping device inwhich paint or lacquer is fed upon an applicator roller at a point justin advance of its engagement with the surface to be striped.

A further object of the invention is to provide a striping device thatcan be readily kept clean between operations.

Other objects of the invention will appear from Fig. 5 is a sectionalview taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawing by characters of reference, the stripingdevice is illustrated as having a body consisting of a casing In with anopen side over which a cover H is secured by screws 9. A hollowinteriorly threaded boss l2 projects from the integral side of thecasing and serves as a bearing for a cylindrical rotatable connector l3having a flanged end It. A hollow nut I5 is screwed into the threadedneck and between the inner end of this nut and the flange M is arrangeda coil spring 16 that serves to hold the connector in any position ofits rotation. Carried by the connector is a reservoir I! having apassage through its outlet end that is in open communication with apassage l8 extending through the connector and opening into the boss I2.

Between the cover ll and the inner adjacent face of the casing i0 isarranged a pump plate l9 having an apertured portion for receivingmeshing pump gears'zll and 2!. Passage 22 is formed in the body Hi toestablish communication between the interior of the boss l2 and theapertured portion of the pump plate, and an outlet passage 23 leadsthrough cover H from the aperture in the pump plate and terminates in anenlarged end 24 for receiving the shaft 2 3' carrying nozzle 25. Thisshaft fits closely in the enlarged end 24 of the outlet passage and hasa passage 26 therethrough that is in open communication with the passage23 and with the nozzle opening 23'.

The cover ll provides a bearing for the shaft to that has fixed on itsinner end the pump gear 2|. On the end of the shaft projecting beyondthe cover is fixed a roller 3! that applies paint or lacquer in a stripeto a piece of work indicated at 32. This roller is formed with arecessed periphery 33 which in the present inthe following descriptiontaken in connection with the drawing, which forms a part of thisspecification, in which;

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a striping device incorporating theinvention shown in striping operation with the edge portion of a pieceof work;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the striping device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the striping device taken on line 3-3 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 4-4 ofFig. 1, showing the applicator roller in operative engaged relation withan edge portion of a piece of work;

stance is in V-form, however, various other contours can be utilized foruse with different work pieces. The nozzle 25 is rotatably mounted andarranged so that its dispensing end lies within the recessed peripheryof the roller and at a point slightly in advance of the portion of thework being striped by the roller. In order to maintain the nozzle insuch relationship, there is provided a coil spring 34 that is woundaround the nozzle shaft. One end of this spring is fixed to the bodycover by screw 35 and the other end of the spring is arranged to engageunder the nozzle in a relation to exert an upward force thereagainst.This spring therefore holds the nozzle outlet end in the recessedperiphery of the roller and also serves to exert a pressure against thenozzle in a direction inwardly of the cover.

The reservoir I1 is filled with the desired paint with the nut l5. Oneach end of the body is fixed a handle element 31 that is grasped by theoperator during actuation of the device. The

recessed roller periphery is placed against the edge portion of a pieceof work to be striped and the operator moves the device along the edgewith the roller engaging thereagainst. The roller serves as a supportand guide for the device and operates the pump gear 2| through shaft 3tso that the pump will feed paint or lacquer from passage 22 through thepassage 23 in the body and passage 25 and the nozzle. Regardless of thespeed at which the operator moves the device along the piece of work, auniform quantity of lacquer or paint will be moved through the nozzle tothe roller and onto the surface over which the device is rolled to applya stripe of uniform thickness and width.

With the nozzle outlet arranged adjacent the Work surface about to bestriped, the applied paint or lacquer flows into the grooved peripheryof the roller and is immediately transferred to the piece of work. As aconsequence, the paint and lacquer will not overflow the recessedperiphery of the roller and become displaced from the roller beforeapplication to the piece of work. The entire peripheral surface of theroller will be covered with a thin coating of paint or lacquer after onerevolution but the major portion of paint or lacquer transferred to theroller will be fed upon and distributed from the roller in a smallportion of its circumference. The walls forming the peripheral recess inthe roller serve as a hearing and a guide when engaged against the edgeportion of a piece of work to be striped, and the outer portions of suchperipheral faces are arranged to overlie the sides of the work pieceedge when the stripe is desired to be laid along the sides of the Workpiece edge as well as along the work piece edge. As shown in Figs. 1, 4and 5, the device is in operative relation With the edge of a piece ofwork, such as a motor vehicle door panel, and the stripe that has beenapplied is indicated at 40. As shown in Fig. 5, the major portion of thepaint or lacquer fed by the nozzle is moved onto the roller anddispensed therefrom in a small portion of its circumference as indicatedat 4|. As the paint or lacquer is fed into the roller peripheral recessby the nozzle, a portion thereof will be trapped in the smaller diameterof the roller periphery, as indicated at 42, above the edge of the pieceof work and the other portions thereof will lie between the side facesof the roller periphery and the sides of the piece of work as indicatedat 43. Capillary attraction will limit the flow of these portions 43 ofthe paint or lacquer and therefore the terminal lines of the appliedstripe on the sides of the work piece will be parallel to and uniformwith the roller engaged edge portions of the piece of work.

This device has been found to be extremely useful because itssimplicity, accurateness, and ease in manipulation allows unskilledlabor to satisfactorily operate the same. As the paint is appliedthrough a closed passage to the roller and as the roller can be placedin cleaning fluid between operations, the paint or lacquer will not drythereon and require cleaning when the device is used at a later time.The roller, it will be noted, serves to support the device, to guide thedevice, to apply the paint or lacquer stripe and to operate the pump.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a specificembodiment, the principles involved are susceptible of numerous otherapplications which will readily occur to persons skilled in the art. Theinvention is therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for striping the edge portion of a piece of work comprisinga body having a passage therein, a gear pump in the passage in saidbody, a striping fluid container on the body communicating with theinlet end of the passage, a nozzle carried outside of the body andcommunicating with the outlet end of the passage, a shaft extending intothe body connected to drive said gear pump, and a peripherally recessedroller fixed on the shaft outside of the body, the dispensing end ofsaid nozzle projecting into the recessed periphery of the roller to feedfluid upon the recessed surface of the roller about to contact the workpiece being operated upon.

2. A device for striping the edge portion of a piece of Work comprisinga body having a passage therein, fluid reservoir means connected withthe body passage, a shaft carried by the body, gear pump means mountedin the body for driving striping fluid through the passage, a rollerfixed on the shaft for rolling contact with the edge portion of a faceof a piece of work to be striped, said roller having a recessedperiphery shaped to overlie the edge portion of the work with a reliefbeyond the contacting portions, and fluid feeding means leading from thebody passage into the recessed periphery of the roller and depositingthe fluid therein at a point about to contact the Work piece whilerolled thereon, said roller transferring the deposited fluid to the edgeportion of the piece of work and guiding and supporting the device inits striping movement.

3. In a device for striping the edge portion of an article, anapplicator roller having a grooved peripheral face, a nozzle having anoutlet end extending withinthe leading portion of the grooved face ofthe roller, and means for feeding striping fluid through the nozzle andonto the roller.

4. A device for striping the edge portion of an article comprising abody, a shaft carried by and projecting from the body, a peripherallygrooved applicator roller fixed to the projecting end of the shaft, gearpump means in the body connected to be actuated by said shaft, a nozzleswingably carried by the body in advance of the roller, said nozzlehaving its outlet end extending into the grooved periphery of theroller, spring means engaging the nozzle and the body for normallyholding the nozzle outlet in the peripheral groove of the roller, andpassage means in the body through which lacquer moves from the pump tothe nozzle.

AUGUST J. TEGETHOFF.

